Happy 20 months baby girl!

After 4 days locked in the house with a burst of winter, we were able to head outdoors for a couple hours yesterday!
On another note, Ella starts swim lessons next week, which we are looking forward to.
And Four more weeks til we head to the beach!

UH OH....


Ive been wearing underwear all week!


Ella continues to do amazingly well with potty training. She is in underwear all waking hours of the day. Monday at the sitters was a bit rough with accidents. We decided to send her potty from home on Tuesday and since then she's been right back on track. We have had no accidents here at home all week except for one poop accident today. I even took her to my doctor appointment this am and out to Indian tonight with underwear on! Even though we took her to the potty several times, she held it for almost three hours for both our outings with no accident! Yay Ella!

It must be spring...

Because...

We started with this..






And then went to this...


And then this...




Tom thought it would be a good idea for Ella to be part of the process and he showed her his progress along the way so she wouldnt be in shock without the beard...




Ella literally said to Tom out of nowhere, "I like your face, look at that beard"! Not sure where she came up with that phrase but it was super cute and she seems to approve of the new look.


And here is the finished product. Yeah I know my husband is a weirdo :)

What a big girl!

Not only did Ella wear pigtails for the first time today...





She also did absolutely amazing on the potty!

I knew she was ready as we have been "practicing" for months but I was not prepared for it to go this well. She has been fully in underwear ALL weekend except for nap and bedtime.
Yesterday she had 5 successes and 1.5 accidents. Today you ask? NO ACCIDENTS and 9 SUCCESSES including a poop on the potty tonight! Way to go Ella

And last but not least Thanks Grandma Joyce and Aunt Dawn for coming down and watching Ella while Tom and I ran the Heart race downtown in the cold rain this AM.

And the fun has begun..

This baby is ready to tackle the....


Potty!
Ella has been getting aquainted to the potty for quite awhile now but this weekend is our big potty weekend!
We have a potty seat and ring for the big toilet...

Lots of underwear...

Sticker chart made just for Ella...


Lots of stickers to choose from for success on potty....

Movie about the potty and notebook for mommy and daddy to take potty data..

And even though it may seem strange, and even though I wanted the pads for humans (target no longer carries them), we have potty pads to put on the couch in case of accidents.


So far we are two hours into our potty weekend and Ella has stayed dry with one success on the potty!
Way to go Ella and wish us luck!

Read of The Week

Ella has two favorite books this week. They are both lift the flap books which are currently her favorite.
The first book this week is a new one called Clifford's First Easter.




The second book she's had for ages now. It's called Toes, Ears, and Nose and you can lift the flap to find the body parts. She loved this book months back when I bought it and for some reason it has become popular again this week.

the week so far...

Ella and I headed to wapak/botkins Sunday and Monday so that Tom could finish up his law school application.
Ella visited grandma Joyce and paw paw as well as Aunt Tonia, cousin Emma and Uncle Kirk.

Ella giving Emma a kiss

Hanging out in the playroom






On another note..Ella got some new kicks yesterday. We bought these and a pair of Keen sandals for the summer. I am always amazed at how ridiculously overprized a good pair of children's shoes are. I dont even pay that kind of money for my own shoes these days!

Flashback Friday

Here's Ella during bathtime last year in March. Im sure it was right around the time that she first started taking a bath sitting up in the big bathtub all by herself.






And here is Ella tonight during her bath. As you can see this year she has a lot more hair and needs a lot more toys to keep her happy; however, she has a lot less rolls :)